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In light of the recognition of the need for a new approach to immigrant integration policy in the European Union, policymakers and other actors are beginning to look at the role that origin countries can play in the integration process. This policy brief explores the transnational dynamics at work behind the scenes of integration policy, including wider sociopolitical factors in origin and destination countries.

While a number of major migrant-sending countries like Morocco and Turkey have started to take an active role in the integration of their migrants abroad, the role of subnational authorities has been overshadowed by diaspora engagement initiatives at the national level. This report investigates how the activities of origin countries' regional and local institutions may improve the lives of emigrants to Member States of the European Union.

While there is growing consensus on the value of immigrant integration support prior to departure, such initiatives generally have not fully realized their potential. This policy brief reviews promising examples of predeparture measures for labor market integration in Europe that are jointly designed and/or run by origin- and destination-country actors, illustrating their potential to help effectively address some of the most stubborn obstacles to successful integration.

Youth of a migrant background are over-represented among those who leave school early in the European Union. This policy brief discusses empirical findings, theoretical insights, and promising measures that may inform further policy action to address the disproportionately high level of early school leaving among students with a migrant background, which results from socioeconomic and other factors.

A number of actors outside the formal educational context, including parents, peers, and other community members, can play an important role in the social and educational development of migrant children. This policy brief reviews current measures to promote the integration of migrant students around Europe, focusing on those initiatives that include the family and community as part of the educational process.

Employment-oriented mentoring is increasingly recognized in Europe as a tool for advancing the labor market integration of disadvantaged individuals, including immigrants. This report highlights a number of relevant one-on-one mentoring practices in Europe and North America, focusing on the role of different initiators and stakeholders, forms of collaboration, methods, and target groups.

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Recent Activity

This report explores the accelerating trend in the United Kingdom of mainstreaming of immigrant integration, in which policymakers seek to reach people with a migration background through needs-based social programming and policies that also target the general population. The report has particular focus on policies and programs used in London and Glasgow.

In the coming weeks, the President-Elect of the European Commission and leaders of the European Union will discuss the new institutional map of the European Union, including new portfolios for the incoming college of Commissioners. Despite the fact that immigration is a critical challenge for the European Union, it has become harder for EU institutions to forge a strong policy. Perhaps as a result of this disconnect, one of the key ideas on the table is to create a Commissioner for Migration.

The European Council's new strategic guidelines, which set the pathway for future policy development in the area of Justice and Home Affairs in the coming years, seem unfeasibly insulated from today's migration and asylum realities and challenges confronting the European Union. The draft represents a missed opportunity to lead EU heads of state forward on critical issues in this area, MPI Europe's Director writes in this commentary.

This MPI Europe telebriefing, releasing the brief "Strengthening Refugee Protection and Meeting Challenges: The European Union’s Next Steps on Asylum," examines Europe's current reality with respect to migration and asylum and assesses the possibilities for future development of EU immigration policy.

With the European Council meeting in late June 2014 to adopt strategic guidelines on asylum and migration policy, amid strains resulting from Syrian refugee migration and other flows, this MPI Europe policy brief identifies challenges and proposes a forward course. The brief recommends increased engagement by Member States in practical cooperation as a way to strengthen implementation and consolidation of existing EU laws and achieve more consistent asylum decision-making.

This MPI Europe policy brief, published with the European Council poised to articulate a new set of long-term objectives and priorities for action on migration and asylum policy, details the immigration and other challenges that policymakers confront and sets out the reasons for increasingly sclerotic policy development.

This report examines the complexity of immigrant integration governance in EU Member States, and offers detailed mapping of the origin-country institutions that are increasingly involved in integration-related activities. It explores how EU institutions can maximize opportunities for cooperation between origin and destination countries on integration governance.

A quiet policy transformation is taking place in Europe, as policymakers increasingly turn to a strategy of "mainstreaming" immigrant integration—seeking to reach people with a migration background through needs-based social programming and policies that also target the general population. This report assesses mainstreaming efforts across government in Denmark, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

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The Migration Policy Institute Europe, established in Brussels in 2011, is a nonprofit, independent research institute that aims to provide a better understanding of migration in Europe and thus promote effective policymaking. MPI Europe provides authoritative research and practical policy design to governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders who seek more effective management of immigration, immigrant integration, and asylum systems as well as successful outcomes for newcomers, families of immigrant background, and receiving communities in Europe. For more on MPI Europe, click here.

Resources

Country ResourcesAs the main arbiters of where, when, and how people may cross borders, individual countries still hold most of the keys to the immigration and integration trajectories of increasingly diverse flows of migrants. Articles in the Migration Information Source, MPI's online journal, catalogue and contextualize the migration experiences of more than 70 countries.

Media Resources

Experts

Demetrios G. Papademetriou is Co-Founder of MPI and President of Migration Policy Institute Europe.
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Elizabeth Collett is Director of Migration Policy Institute Europe and Senior Advisor to MPI's Transatlantic Council on Migration.
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